Hussain wants Westfield to join anti-fixing fight

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has urged officials to give Meryvn Westfield a role in the battle against corruption in cricket after the bowler admitted a criminal spot-fixing charge in court.

Written by Agence-France Presse

Read Time: 2 mins

London:

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has urged officials to give Meryvn Westfield a role in the battle against corruption in cricket after the bowler admitted a criminal spot-fixing charge in court.

Westfield, 23, pleaded guilty at London's Old Bailey on Thursday to accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs while playing for Essex in a county 40-over match against Durham in September 2009.

He is due to be sentenced on February 10, when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are expected to comment publicly on the case and announce if they are imposing any sporting sanctions on Westfield, released by Essex in 2010 "on cricketing grounds".

But Hussain said that whatever happened to Westfield, there should be a role for him in educating up and coming players about the dangers of getting involved in fixing.

"(The ECB should) use him, take him around to counties, do a video with him. (They should) use him as an example for future generations of cricketers that if you do get a call in your room saying 'bowl a bad over and we will give you Â£6,000', this is what happens to you," Hussain told Sky Sports on Wednesday.

"Instead of just parking him away somewhere to be forgotten, try to use the lad to make sure future generations don't make the same mistakes as he has made," insisted Hussain, who spent his entire county career with Essex.

"You can't take your eye off the ball with this. (Westfield's admission of guilt) is what the game needs -- Mervyn Westfield would have been about 21 when he decided to bowl that over and take that cash.

"You can do that and then two years later down the line these things come back to bite you and haunt you. Mervyn Westfield is the best (example) to show young players and say 'Is it really worth it?'.

Hussain added Westfield was highly thought of as a bowler.

"He was a very good cricketer, there were rumours still that if he beat this case some other counties were going to come in for him, he was a real prospect.

"This will have been in his blood and now cricket has been taken out of his lifestyle through what he did. It's a harsh lesson that he has learned."